Love for the Forsaken
by DefunctHooligan
Summary: As the alliance between SkyWings and IceWings become stronger, the queens decide to strengthen it even more by having an arranged marriage. A SkyWing prince and IceWing princess would be married in order to bring the two tribes closer. The only problem is that the two never meant and only meet when the ceremony is set up in the Sky Kingdom.
1. Prologue

"Your majesty, you have a visitor. It's the IceWing queen," the pink-scaled servant announced as he trotted into the throne room.

The SkyWing queen straightened up as she remained seated in her throne. "Is there anyone else with her, Mockingbird?"

He shook his head. "No, she came here alone."

"Bring her in. You're excused. Thank you," she responded, nodding.

Mockingbird bowed down. "Of course," he chirped. He then swiftly padded out. As Mockingbird left, the SkyWing queen saw a silver-scaled dragon enter. A smirk appeared the red-scaled SkyWing.

"I've seen you come back sooner than I thought, Pika, and you came alone this time. I know the distance from your kingdom to her is very long, even during flight. So, tell me, what do you come for? Surely it's for something important, right?" she greeted.

Pika chuckled, "Yes, I've come here for an important reason. I see we're alone in your throne room, my dear Ibis. Excellent!"

"And what is that important reason?" questioned Ibis.

"Well, I've noticed that our two tribes have become much stronger together. Our alliance have improved both of our militaries, and it's quite obvious to see I hope," the IceWing queen began.

"That doesn't quite answer my question, Pika."

Pika continued, "I think there's a way to make our alliance stronger. With how it seems like SandWings and NightWings are always after us, I think now it's a better time to build a stronger one at a time like this. With how close our tribes are already, why don't we bring them closer together?"

"And how are we going to do that?" Ibis asked, confused.

"As soon as I thought of this, I knew it would be perfect. Listen, I would _never_ do this with any other tribe. I may have a decent alliance with the MudWings for a long time, but I would never ever think about doing this with them. But I trust you and your tribe, Ibis," babbled Pika.

"So tell me what it is," grunted Ibis.

"An arranged marriage!" Pika exclaimed, making Ibis flinch. She continued, "Think about it. Two members of our family could marry each other, creating a forever strong bond with our two tribes. Hell, the two could even lead a small a miniature army of their own between our two kingdoms, fighting off other tribes who attack. Think of the possibilities, Ibis! My dear daughter, Solstice, will be the bride, but this all up to you."

Ibis was deep in thought, not responding as quickly as she usually did. It was unheard of for two dragons from different tribes to get married. It was usually shamed upon in the Sky Kingdom due to their strong pride in their tribe. While Ibis knew it couldn't damage their alliance, it did have a chance to strengthen both SkyWings and IceWings. While it didn't make sense to her yet, Ibis was willing to try it. It could even get one of her sons off her back for the time being, which would be a good day for her any day.

Ibis stepped down from her throne, standing in front of Pika. She completely towered over the silver-scaled IceWing. Pika stared up at the SkyWing with hope in her eyes. Ibis could see how much the IceWing wanted this. It was almost adorable to just stare at Pika with how hopeful and joyful she looked in the moment.

"I have a son that would make a good groom. His name's Robin. I think he'll be good to Solstice," Ibis responded.

"Well, it's great to see you're on board with this," Pika chuckled.

"Whenever you're free, we can discuss this further."

"Actually, I'm completely free right now."


	2. Chapter One

"Oh, come on! Why not care a little more about this? It's your big day after all. At least act a little more excited," his sister groaned as she dug through the large golden chest in the room.

"I can't always act so excited about everything, Cinder. Besides, it isn't really my big day. That's only in a couple days," the red-scaled dragon responded, rolling his eyes as he sat back down in his leather chair.

"But you don't even seem remotely excited about getting married, Robin. Shouldn't you be excited to marry some IceWing princess? Our mother picked you for a reason," Cinder grunted.

"Well, to be honest, I'm not really sure how to feel about this. I know I should be prideful of myself or something, but I really don't feel that happy about it," he replied. He began tapping on his leather chair with his talons as he kept looking at his sister.

A golden-scaled dragon stepped up closer to Robin. She spoke, "Don't worry, Robin! I'm sure you'll be good enough. Mother picked you for a reason. Once you see that IceWing princess, you'll be able to treat her right. I bet she'll be pretty, and you'll be in love with her."

Robin sighed. He wasn't worried about that. He was worried about not being able to fall in love with this IceWing. He didn't know about this arranged marriage until his mother, Ibis, told him about it happening in a couple of days, completely surprising him. He wasn't prepared to hear what his mother was going to tell him, and he wasn't sure why his mother picked him. Out of all his brothers, Robin was the only one who didn't really feel attracted to others. It was a common thing for other dragons around his age to flirt with him, mostly because of his royal status, in an attempt to charm him. The thing was he never felt any romantic feelings toward them. They could compliment multiple times and give him the nicest gifts, but none of their charming worked on him. It didn't matter if they were a close friend or a stranger. He just didn't fall in love with anyone.

He was deeply afraid of falling his tribe because of his lack of attraction toward others. Robin knew Ibis wanted this arranged marriage badly and planned out the majority of details with the IceWing queen. It was supposed to strengthen the alliance between SkyWings and IceWings. With how there seemed to be tension between them and the SandWings and MudWings, a better alliance would do them better. Their alliance couldn't shatter now at a time like this, and Robin knew he couldn't mess this up. With how the IceWing queen planned this out first, Robin guessed the princess he would marry agreed to this. He feared that she expected love and affection out of him, two things he was not good with. If he disappointed her and the whole marriage was called out quickly, Robin knew that would damage the alliance, and he didn't want this. He would usually argue with his mother if this was with some SkyWing, but he couldn't this time.

"I bet she'll be the best IceWing you could have met! She'll be beautiful and all that. She could finally be the dragon you were waiting for. And if she treats you poorly, I'll burn her alive! Hehe, I'm just kidding. Maybe," Robin's sister continued on.

"I don't think the IceWings would really appreciate you burning one of their princesses alive, Aether," Cinder interrupted as she pulled out another large chest of jewelry.

"I know that, but I'll never let some IceWing boss around Robin! I hope she's at least kind. Maybe pretty too. Oooh, imagine seeing her shiny scales," Aether nagged.

Cinder rolled her eyes, grunting. She didn't respond back, just continuing to look through the chests she had out. Robin chuckled as he stepped down from their chair he was seated in. Despite being not enjoying the situation he was in, he was glad to have a sister like Aether around at a time like this.

"Well, since _clearly_ you don't seem to be completely enthusiastic about my fashion sense, you can pick out what you'll be wearing when you meet that IceWing," explained Cinder. She pushed the chests of jewelry closer to him.

"And that's probably for the best," Aether chuckled. Robin couldn't help to chuckle.

Cinder rolled her eyes. She spoke, "Whatever. Come on, Aether, let's go. Mother might need us to do something for her like always."

"Of course, your majesty!" Aether jokingly exclaimed, following after Cinder as the two SkyWings left the room.

Robin stepped forward, moving the mirror and heavy chests closer to him. He reached down in the chests that was full of collars. The majority of them were silver with random gems such as sapphires and emeralds asserted into them, but there was some made of other materials such as gold. He decided to try those on first. As he placed the collars on, he tried to pull off a genuine smiling, knowing he would have to make a good expression to the IceWings that would come into the Sky Kingdom. After all, he was marrying an IceWing princess.

"Hey there! I'm Robin. Ugh, no, too loud. Something more formal?"

"Hello, darling. You can call me Robin. Ew, that just sounds weird."

"Hey, I'm Robin. Did that sound too emotionless?"

"Oh, you're the IceWing princess. My name's Robin. Yours? Uh, not good enough!"

He tossed the golden collar back into the chest, groaning. He knew he would never show real love toward this IceWing, but he had to pretend for the sake of the two tribes. He didn't want to disappoint his mother ever again. He knew he wasn't good enough to fight as a solider for the SkyWings, and that was all his brothers planned on doing. He just wished he could run away from everything, but he couldn't now. If this didn't go smoothly, he risked getting his tribe losing against the SandWings and MudWings when they start to attack.

Robin dug deeper in one of the smaller chests Cinder found in the room, reaching his talons to the bottom. He pulled out a chained necklace made of platinum, almost mistaking it as silver for a split second. A dragon's opal was dangling from it.

_Huh, looks like it was misplaced, _he thought to himself, placing it to the side. _I doubt anyone will mind if I just take this. It could make a good gift I suppose._

Robin went back to digger deeper into the smaller chest. He ended up pulling out a polished and shiny golden collar with fire agates placed all around it. The SkyWing placed it around his neck and looked back in the mirror. He tilted his head, doing a small pose in front of the mirror to show off the collar as best as he could. Robin wasn't one to pretty himself up all the time like some of his other siblings, but he did admit the collar looked pretty good on him. The gold matched the color of his horns and underbelly, and the fire agates worked well with his dark red scales. Robin smirked, trying to pull off the best one he could.

"So, how's your day going? No, no. That's too boring."

"How's the most beautiful dragon doing? Ew, too creepy!"

"How's it like in the Ice Kingdom? Wait, should I even be asking her something like that?"

"What are you looking forward to? Ugh, no!"

Maybe questions wasn't Robin's strengths. His mind drifted off to other things he could say to her.

"You're as beautiful as the stars. Wait, too cliché. I'm pretty sure I read that in some SeaWing book."

"Your scales look as beautiful as the snow in your kingdom. No, I haven't even seen the snow there. That's dumb."

"I love you, and I hope you love me back... no, that's desperate."

Robin sighed loudly as his wings drooped to the side, dragging on the ground. His fake smirk faded away, being replaced with a hopeless expression. "Why me out of everyone, mother? Couldn't you have actually picked someone who knew how to pull this off?" Robin groaned as he slowly took off the golden collar around his neck.


	3. Chapter Two

"What do you mean I'm getting married? I barely know who this SkyWing is!" the IceWing hissed at her mother, stomping her legs on the ground in anger.

"Solstice, come on. You have to do this. I've already planned this all out. There's no going back. The SkyWings are the ones who are going to arrange the rest," the queen responded back as she sighed.

Solstice huffed, annoyed at what her mother has done. She didn't even know who this SkyWing prince! She barely even knew anything about SkyWings in fact. Solstice knew Pika thought she would never be a good queen despite her wanting to be one in the future, but she guessed this was her mother's way of making sure she would never the throne. Solstice would call her mother out for doing this, but she was angered by other things.

"Don't you care the alliance between us and the SkyWings?" Pika questioned.

"But I don't know this dragon is! And he doesn't know me. This isn't going to work out. Why couldn't you let Cottongrass do this? You know how she's always talking about how SkyWing princes are cuter than some IceWings here. She's desperate, but I'm not!" argued back Solstice.

"Well, I know you aren't going to like it at first, but you'll get use to him. SkyWings can be pretty charming. Plus, you're doing this for your tribe. Don't you want to keep your tribe safe?"

Solstice loudly sighed. She replied, "Yes, I really do want to keep every IceWing safe. I really do care about my tribe. I do, mother, but I don't think this is the best way to approach making the alliance stronger."

"Well, it's too late to cancel this, Solstice. You have to do it. Besides, all you have to do is act like you like him if you don't end up falling for him," her mother explained.

Solstice knew it was useless to argue with her. She could never forgive her mother for this, but there was no way out of this. She would just have to go to the Sky Kingdom and suck it up. _Who knows? I could get lucky and be able to run away from this damn place! _the IceWing thought. If Pika was trying to send her away to prevent her from becoming a future queen, then Solstice could just do something with her life outside of the Ice Kingdom that doesn't involve getting married to some SkyWing prince.

"Fine, I'll go."

Pika smiled. "Good. You'll be going tomorrow. Some IceWings will also be going with her, so you'll fly with them to the Sky Kingdom. Queen Ibis's servant, seer, and guards should meet you know. The servant you see will be named Mockingbird, and I think that seer's name is Titmouse if I'm not mistaken," Solstice's mother instructed.

Solstice nodded. She was pretty upset to see her mother so chipper now after she agreed to go, but she didn't comment on it. She didn't want to speak to her anymore at this point. "I guess I'll go pack whatever I need."

"Make sure to also be wearing something in order to make some good first impressions. Now if you excuse me, I'll go get the others you'll be with ready," she informed before trotting off.

Solstice stalked off to her room, now in a gloomy mood. While she would only act along with the plan of getting married, Solstice would just run away. It was her only option at this point. As she entered her room, the IceWing grabbed a seal-skinned bag she always carried her belongings in, knowing she wouldn't have that many things. Solstice looked through all the jewelry she had. She never wore it, but there was bound to be something in there that looked presentable at least.

She rummaged through it, looking through it. Some of the jewelry she saw she didn't recognize. Soon, she pulled out a crystal tiara with a sapphire in the middle. It was the only tiara she actually owned. She placed it on her head and looked in the mirror.

_Decent. Presentable,_ Solstice thought to herself as she tilted her head. Despite it not being her usual taste, it would work for the time being.

She looked through the chest again. She knew how obsessed her family with jewelry was, and she was willing to go overboard just this once. Besides, when the time came to escape and run away from the Sky Kingdom and from her own kingdom, she would have something to sell for later possibly. She also wasn't really dressing to impress this SkyWing prince. She didn't care if the SkyWings judged her.

Soon enough, she was able to find an a bracelet also made out of crystal with smaller colored ones placed on the sides. She slid it on, lifting it up as she looked in the mirror. She still looked decent enough, but she felt like something was missing. Solstice glanced over at the tiny stone box she had on her table, hidden away with other smaller chests surronding it. Solstice pushed the chests away, grabbing it. She looked down on the lid of the box, seeing a name craved on the top of it.

_Quartz._

A sheepish smile appeared on Solstice as she slightly chuckled. Looking at the box again filled her with memories. She sighed, her smile fading away as she opened it. In the stone box was a silver necklace with a couple of emeralds dangling off of it. It was enchanted in order to protect the wearer from fire, deflecting it. The necklace also couldn't be taken off by another force, freezing a dragon's limb if they attempt to do so. Solstice placed the stone box in her bag and put the necklace on. She looked in the mirror, seeing it blended in with the rest of what she wearing. Solstice grabbed some other silver necklaces that were in the chest, putting them on to slightly have the enchanted necklace blend in more.

"Decent," Solstice mouthed.


	4. Chapter Three

Robin stood in the doorway of the large luxurious throne room, looking into it for the time being. Ibis was seated in her huge golden throne like always as she spoke to the main seer of the Sky Kingdom, Titmouse. The prince could only wait as his mother and Titmouse spoke to each other. Robin didn't say a word at all despite wanting to talk to his mother right now, knowing how the queen hated to be interrupted and disturbed at a time like this with her personal seer.

"Some IceWings will be here. A couple possibly. Pika didn't clarify the number, but she said there would be less than twenty the last time we me, so that's probably the best place to start. Is there any good rooms open for them? I don't want them sleeping and staying in anything mediocre of course," Ibis muttered loudly.

The SkyWing wrote down something Robin couldn't make out on a rather large scroll. "Hmmm, there should be some guest rooms open. I'll have to ask Mockingbird about that," Titmouse responded, not looking up from the scroll.

"We should also have some servants for them. Three sounds good, one of them being for the princess herself of course. Since Mockingbird will be doing other things, I'll have to assign some of my other servants. Do you have any in mind?" she questioned, pondering in thought.

Titmouse paused in his writing for a couple of seconds, also in deep thought. He then continued writing on the scroll again. He answered, "Firewood and Sunbird are both free, and they are both good from what I heard. For that princess, Poppy might be the best servant you have I might suggest."

"Yeah, those three are good and quick on their feet. You'll have to tell them beforehand though," acknowledged the SkyWing queen.

"Noted."

"That's all I have to say. You'll have to do everything we talked about and come back to me when you're done. I might have any other things I need to be prepared for the IceWings," she concluded.

Titmouse bowed down. "Of course. I'll get straight to it."

"Thank you. You're dismissed for now."

Titmouse turned around, walking out of the throne. Robin still stood in the doorway only to be shoved out of the way by the seer. "Damn IceWings," Titmouse quietly hissed to himself, stalking. Robin grunted as he stared at Titmouse.

"Oh, Robin, you're here! Come on in please," he heard Ibis call for him.

Robin turned around, seeing his mother smiling. "You can sit here if you like," Ibis told her son, gesturing toward the smaller throne by her side. Robin nodded, sitting down in the throne next to the SkyWing queen.

"So, how are you? Have you managed to pick out something to wear for now," Ibis asked.

Robin replied, "I've been good. I managed to get something, but Cinder was no help of course."

"I know how Cinder can be sometimes. Luckily enough, you'll have someone else who isn't Cinder picking out something for you to wear on your wedding day," she chuckled.

"Speaking of my wedding day, I have a question about that. That's why I came here after all," he told his mother.

"What is it?"

"Well.. why does it have to be me? Why do I have to marry this IceWing? I don't know her after all."

Ibis froze completely in her own throne, her smile fading away just like that. Robin stayed silent, looking his mother in the eyes and slightly cowering the small throne he sat in. Ibis soon shook her head, snapping back into reality as she dusted away the thoughts she had in her head.

"Well, if you need to be explained why, then I guess I should explain it to you after all. As soon you know, this marriage was meant to strengthen the alliance between us and the IceWings. The IceWing queen, Pika, was the one to suggest this to me. Your bride was going to be one of her daughters, Solstice, and Pika already seemed to have the majority of things planned out. I couldn't turn down her offer. The SkyWings needed this stronger alliance with the things going on right now."

"But... why do I have to marry Solstice? Why not one of my other brothers? You know how much they want to get married," Robin pointed out.

Ibis sighed," The thing is, um, it's always been tradition for SkyWing princes to get married. Your brothers have already laid eyes on another SkyWing, but you haven't. I thought maybe you weren't interested in any SkyWings out there, then maybe you'll love an IceWing."

"So, that's it? I'm only getting married to Solstice because I haven't fallen in love with any SkyWing? I'm only getting married because of SkyWing tradition?" he asked.

Ibis nodded "I'm sorry, but yes. It's always been tradition, and that includes you too, Robin. While I'm doing this to make the alliance stronger of course, I'm also doing this for you when it comes to the greater good."

_Why the hell is this even tradition? _Robin thought, filling with rage. It wasn't fair. He was being forced into doing something he didn't want to do because he didn't have any interest in any SkyWings like his siblings.

He wanted to yell at his mother, telling him how wrong this was. Robin really wanted to tell her that this arranged marriage was miserable for him completely. He had many things he wanted to tell Ibis, but he kept it to himself. Despite his mother foolishly accepting Queen Pika's offer, it wasn't fully her fault in his eyes. It was only half her fault. Besides, Robin didn't want to know what Ibis would do to him if he screamed and insulted the SkyWing queen.

"If it's what I have to do, then I guess I have no other choice," he sighed.

"I really do hate doing this to you, but I have to follow these traditions I was taught to do. Besides, maybe this IceWing will be able to fix you," she responded.

_But why do I need fixing? I'm completely fine! I just don't really romantically love anyone. Is that such a crime? _Robin wanted to scream at the top of his lungs, making sure everyone in Queen Ibis's palace heard what was on his mind, but he simply bit his tongue. He nodded as he listened to Ibis, keeping his thoughts and feelings strictly to himself.


	5. Chapter Four

"Are you sure you don't want me to carry anything for you, Solstice? I know you don't plan on carrying a lot, but I think it would be the best for you to carry less."

"I'm fine, Shard. I feel safer carrying this myself, and it looks like you're carrying enough yourself."

"If you say so, then I understand."

Shard lifted up the seal-skinned bags he had, throwing them over his shoulder. Solstice nodded. Her mother decided it would be the best idea to send Shard, one of her newer royal guards, to go with them to the Sky Kingdom. Shard has always been Solstice's friend, and he was probably the only one he had in the Ice Kingdom that wasn't related to him that spoke to her. Solstice always enjoyed it when Shard didn't constantly treat her like royalty and flirt with her, unlike some other soldiers around her age.

Solstice looked behind her, seeing how big Queen Pika's palace was as she stood in the snow. Solstice sighed as she looked in front of her, seeing all the IceWings who were going to the Sky Kingdom. Of course, Shard was coming, carrying most of the spare bags meant for other things that Pika wanted to be taken with them. Some of Solstice's siblings were also going. Her sister, Princess Cottongrass, was going, mostly because of her constant begging to see the Sky Kingdom. Hare and Rockhopper, her brothers, were mostly assigned due to them being soldiers-in-training for the most part. There was also the fact that the two got in trouble with Pika, and as a punishment, they were meant to help set up the wedding they always complained about. Then there was Permafrost, her cousin and a musician, who was supposed to work along the other SkyWings to teach them some IceWing-orientated songs for the wedding.

"Well, it looks like we're ready to go," Shard announced.

Queen Pika, who was watching from the palace's entrance, gave a warm smile when all the IceWings looked back at her. Solstice could tell she was a little worried though. "I know you'll all be safe in the Sky Kingdom. I know there's some conflicted feelings about this, but after meeting with the SkyWings, I know they're a very trustworthy tribe of dragons," Pika said.

"Ooooh, and SkyWings are really handsome! The soldiers and princes are at least," Cottongrass blurted out.

Ignoring the princess's comment, IceWing queen continued, "Uh, yes. Anyways, travel safely. Please."

"I will make sure they get to the Sky Kingdom safely, your majesty," Shard spoke as he stood up straightly.

Pika nodded. "Good," she replied before walking back into the Ice Kingdom, casting one last glance at Solstice.

"Hehe, you sound real professional there, Shard," Solstice jeered, chuckling.

"Your majesty, I will take care of the babies!" Hare mockingly spoke, laughing alongside the IceWing princess.

Shard gave the two an annoyed look before smirking. "If I just called her by her name, she would have torn off my head!"

"Real professional there," Rockhopper grunted.

"Oh, is it now illegal to have fun?" Hare responded.

"How do you think the SkyWings are going to react with this childish behavior?" questioned Rockhopper. The snowy white IceWing's wings puffed out with annoyance.

"Yeah, my reputation will be tarnished forever in the Sky Kingdom!" Cottongrass butted in, speaking dramatically.

"Your reputation? Uhhh, last time I checked, this is Solstice's wedding, not yours. So don't be a bratty seal in the Sky Kingdom, darling," the silver IceWing prince spoke.

"Enough with this! You can talk while we're flying, but we need to get going if we want to make it to the Sky Kingdom by tomorrow morning," Shard shouted.

Permafrost sighed, "Yeah, about time. I know some of you have some sibling issues and probably mommy issues, but I actually want to get to the Sky Kingdom!"

Hare, Rockhopper, and Cottongrass nodded. The white IceWing prince only groaned, while Cottongrass went back to adjusting the hoards of crystal jewelry on her quickly. Shard spread open his wings, lifting off. Before he went any higher, he adjusted the bags on him, making sure they wouldn't fall off any time during the flight. All of the other IceWings lifted up into the air, waiting for Shard to take the lead. Shard looked off into the distance as he rose further up into the icy air. Once they were flying above Queen Pika's palace, they soared off. Solstice remained by Shard's side as they flew over the Ice Kingdom. The IceWings could feel tiny snowflakes landing on their bodies, but they were used to it already.

Solstice looked down as the group flew out of the Ice Kingdom. The princess saw the lower-ranked working IceWings below. They also knew why they were leaving the IceWing. The news spread quickly about this wedding. None of them spoke as they looked up in awe. Some of the older IceWings bowed down as if they were higher than the queen herself, encouraging their children to do the same.

"Suck-ups," Hare muttered as he flew to be in between her and Shard. A quiet chuckle came out of the IceWing soldier.

Solstice could see the Great Ice Cliff in the distance. As she stared ahead at it, she could hear Permafrost humming to herself. She could tell the musician was trying to be quiet, but it was loud enough for Solstice to hear it. She didn't mind it though. It was a lovely melody Solstice remembered hearing before when the much older musicians performed for her and her siblings. While Permafrost hummed it, she recited the lyrics to the ballad in her head.

It began on a lonely summer's evening:

I was the saddest outcast in the kingdom,

But she was the loveliest princess in Pyrrhia.

She danced with crystals and lived deliciously,

But I remained in rags and ate the scraps of seals.

The princess somehow loved me back though.

Together, we flew together, snouts touching.

I asked her how she could like a peasant like me,

And she responded with very loud laughter.

"Isn't it clear already?" she questioned.

That was all Solstice could remember from the beginning. She hadn't heard it since she was a small dragonet. She just remembered the melody and opening lyrics. Maybe she could get Permafrost to play it for her whenever she got the chance. Permafrost probably won't get the chance though. Solstice knew how busy she might be during this whole period of time, and she strongly doubted the SkyWings would want to play this kind of song at a wedding, even if it was for the afterparty. Solstice did try to remember the title to the ballad. She thought as hard as she could, but the title was no longer clear in her head.


	6. Chapter Five

Robin sat in the rather small room, extremely bored with nothing fun to do at all. He shifted uncomfortably in the silver throne decorated with colorful gemstones. He sat behind a large, wooden table with other smaller, less-fancy thrones, but they were empty. Aether was sent off to do some other things with Cinder, and his brother was off doing whatever the hell he did at this time. The SkyWing prince could only sit there, overhearing what Titmouse and Mockingbird were talking about near the door. And they were definitely talking very loudly.

"The IceWings should be here soon, give it a day or two. They'll be here with the IceWings helping us prepare for the wedding and Solstice herself. Solstice and Robin will be given a day to talk to each other, so you have to plan that out too," Titmouse explained to the servant.

The pink-scaled dragon responded, "Alright, I'll inform the others to get started for you."

"And make sure to get the IceWings' rooms ready. And also prepare Robin and Solstice's meeting room," the seer added.

"Of course."

Mockingbird walked over to the door and opened it. The SkyWing padded out. Once he was out the door, Titmouse sighed. The seer walked over to Robin, sitting against from him. Robin didn't look up at him. He only continued to shift in his throne and tap on the table with one of his talons. Titmouse gave the SkyWing prince an annoyed look, but he didn't lash out at him. It was clear to see he wanted to though.

"Prince Robin," Titmouse sternly spoke.

The prince looked up and stopped his tapping on the table. "Yes?"

He placed a scroll on the table and pulled out a feather tipped with ink. Titmouse said, "As you know, you will be marrying Princess Solstice of the IceWings. And so, I need some info from you."

"And what would that be?" he asked.

"Well, the dragons setting up where you'll be married need to know what you want."

"Can't I just tell them to surprise me?"

Titmouse responded, "Absolutely not! You can't just let the decisions be picked for you. How would your bride react to you after your decisions be picked for you?"

Robin shrugged. "I don't care."

The seer exclaimed, "You cannot act like that! You must act better than this. This is no attitude to have."

Titmouse stood up, tucking away the feather and scroll he had in the leather bag he had around him. He grumbled to himself, and with his head held high, he skulked toward the door. He slammed the door open and walked out. As Titmouse stalked off, another SkyWing walked in. Titmouse grunted as he walked past him. Once the seer was out of the room, the red-scaled SkyWing slowly entered. Titmouse then slammed the door closed.

"What's his problem?" muttered the SkyWing as he adjusted the brown-furred bag around him.

Robin rolled his eyes. "Just being grumpy as usual. No need to worry about him, Dipper," the prince responded.

Dipper took a seat next to Robin, adjusting himself in the small throne. "I was called to be here to get your decision on something. You now, about gardening cause I'm a gardener and all."

"Yeah, yeah, got it."

Dipper placed his brown-furred bag on the table, placing it to the side. He opened the big bag up, and he revealed two bunches of flowers. He held them toward Robin for a moment. He then placed them on the table, showing them to Robin. One of the bunches were pink carnations. The other were made up of white roses. Robin looked at the two bouquets.

"Uh, I'm not allowed to say _what_ these flowers are for, but I need your opinion on what kinds you like most. Willet said that you had to pick between these two since they go with the colors we want for the wedding," the red-scaled SkyWing explained.

_I absolutely do not understand anything he said. I don't know anything about flowers, _Robin thought.

"Umm, the white roses, I guess, since IceWings have, uh, white scales. What do you think?" the prince answered.

"Well, I personally would pick the pink carnations. It's because they would pop out against the flowers used as decoration in the background. I feel like the white roses would blend too much with those flowers, and I think they would be better to use in the background, or they could be placed as decoration for the reception. But, you know, that's just my opinion."

"...I'll pick the pink carnations then. Yeah, I changed my mind. Forget about the white roses. Uh, you're right."

"Alright, the pink carnations then," replied Dipper as he placed the two bunches of flowers back into the bag.

"Yep, sounds good," mumbled Robin.

As Dipper placed the bag around him, the red-scaled SkyWing said, "I haven't seen you in a long time, and, well, I thought you would be more excited for this wedding, but it seems like this whole thing is just a very boring day."

Robin sighed, "I just can't seem to be happy about marrying some IceWing princess I don't know. I never wanted this, but here I am! My mother could have chosen any of my brothers, but she picked _me_."

Dipper gave Robin a sympathetic look. "I never really actually thought about, uh, how you could feel. No one really has I guess from whom I walked to. All the SkyWings say this will be good for our alliance, and that seems it."

Robin gave another loud, dramatic sigh as he rested his head down on the table. His expression went from being bored to gloomy. "Mother says that this wedding will fix, but is there anything about me that really needs fixing? Can't a SkyWing prince just not be attracted to anyone around here?"


	7. Chapter Six

Night was approaching sooner than they thought. Solstice was somewhat glad for that. The desert's sun was extremely hot, and the heat made the IceWing princess feel like she was melting. She wasn't used to all this warmth. Before this day, Solstice only remained in the Ice Kingdom. She only knew what it was like to be cold. She was only ever surrounded by snow and ice, not sand and cacti.

"We'll have to land and rest for the night. If we wake up before the sun rises, it'll be somewhat cold enough for us to fly without any heat, and we'll get to the Sky Kingdom even more the sun fully rises," Shard told the others.

"Ohh thank the stars! My wings were hurting with all this flying!" exclaimed the other IceWing princess.

"We're dragons, Cottongrass. We fly," Hare said. She only rolled her eyes.

The group of IceWings gracefully dived down to land. Solstice felt the sand sink in between her talons. Somehow, it was still pretty hot. Unlike snow, sand wasn't very soft to land on. Permafrost was the last one to land. Solstice looked around. Yep, it was a desert. She only ever saw ink drawings of what one looked like. Cacti scattered around. Sand was everywhere. A rattlesnake or two were seen slithering before quickly vanishing it. She even heard crickets chirping like she read in her old books. The desert was a lot less exciting than she thought.

Cottongrass cried out, "Um, where are we going to stay? I refuse to sleep on this sand! It's so dry and so not like snow."

Shard responded, "Don't worry. I know a certain place where we can stay.

"As long as no SandWings will find us, I'm good with that," Rockhopper commented.

With the IceWing soldier leading, they set out into the desert. They were a lot slower than they would be, commonly having to stop to shake sand out of their talons. But soon enough, the IceWings reached their destination. In front of them was a tent set up. It was most likely made of the hides of camels and maybe fennec foxes. It was hard to tell, but it stood up high. It was almost the size of a regular old house in the Ice Kingdom, which was fairly large surprisingly. After a longer look, Solstice knew who the tent belonged to.

Shard approached the tent with everyone following behind him. He lightly tabbed on wood that was laid out in front of the entrance. Suddenly, the head of a golden SandWing popped out, slightly pulling back the flap opening to the tent. She looked around before looking up at Shard.

"Well, it's nice of you to pay a visit," the SandWing spoke.

"A SandWing!" Rockhopper gasped as his wings flared up. An icy puff of air came out of his nose.

"Don't worry, Dawn is a friend," Shard said.

The snowy white IceWing questioned, "How are we sure?"

Dawn stepped out of her tent, placing her front talons on the wood placed out. "Because despite being a SandWing, I am no longer loyal to the tribe. I've been friends with Shard for a long time. Solstice and Hare, you probably heard about me from that dork."

"So, we're going to be living in that mess of a tent of his?" Cottongrass hissed. A disgusted look was on her face.

"_Her_," Dawn quickly corrected.

Cottongrass rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

"Well, a friend of Shard's is a friend of mine I suppose, even if that friend is VERY annoying and rude. Come on in. I stole, I mean made, some soup, and there's too much of it, and I don't want to keep it all, but disposing of it would be a very bad idea," Dawn said before going back into her tent. Everyone followed in.

The silver-scaled dragon remembered all the stories she heard about Dawn from the soldier. Dawn was a runaway who refused to be loyal to SandWings. She lived in the desert, but she avoided all contact with the SandWings, especially anyone who worked for royalty. Shard never was able to find out how Dawn became a runaway who survived merely because of how quick she was. Stealing was the easiest thing the SandWing could do. Solstice guessed Shard didn't bother to ask Dawn out of respect for her own privacy.

The tent was fairly simple. The ground at least had a carpet to keep sand out of their talons. A small bed with was shoved in the corner of the tent. Canvas of art and paint buckets were scattered around. The table was displayed in the middle of the place with multiple wooden bowls on it and a larger one with soup in it. Everyone sat around it as Dawn poured out the warm soup to everyone. Solstice looked into the bowl, seeing sliced carrots and seasonings in them. Yep, this was stolen alright.

"So, what brought you here?" Dawn questioned as she sat in between Shard and Solstice.

The soldier responded, "We were heading over to the Sky Kingdom. There's supposed to be a wedding between one of the SkyWings and IceWings."

"Huh, a wedding? Between who?" asked the golden SandWing.

"Me and, uh, some SkyWing prince named Robin," Solstice spoke up.

Cottongrass added in, "And hopefully he's handsome!"

Hare rolled his eyes. "As if that matters."

"Oh, so I guess you're the ones sent there first?"

"Basically," Rockhopper answered just as Shard opened his mouth.

"Sounds... lovely," Dawn commented. "You mind if I come along?"

"What would we bring a SandWing?" spat the silvery-scaled prince. Rockhopper slammed his talons on the wooden table.

Dawn chuckled. "Well, the SkyWings owe me one after I basically gave them some of the SandWings' top secrets, which basically puts the whole entire tribe into some future jeopardy if they do attack the SkyWings or maybe IceWings in this case. And I would like to live in the Sky Kingdom maybe. I just need to get out of the Sand Kingdom for some time."

"Been caught again?" Shard asked.

The SandWing nodded. "A SandWing soldier came by and saw the tent. No doubt they're going to check this some time soon."

"As long as you wake up before the sun rises, you can come with us."

A smirk came across Dawn's face. "That's good with me."


	8. Chapter Seven

After having to answer more questions asked by Titmouse and some other SkyWings working on the wedding, Robin was finally given a break that he wanted to be on so badly. He decided to pull his sister, Aether, to the side and visit the library for once in his life. With all this talk of an arranged marriage and how the concept was still a strange topic to him, he thought he would do some reading about it. Arranged marriages must have been done in the past if everyone is perfectly fine with one happening here in the Sky Kingdom with some random IceWing princess. Robin never really used the library all that much. In fact, he found reading tiresome, but he thought he would make an exception this time. He needed to do some research now before the IceWing came.

Robin spent his time looking at the cards that labeled where certain scroll topics would be. He scanned them carefully, trying to find anything that would relate to arranged marriages. The SkyWing prince opened each wooden drawer, pulling out each card and flipping through them. He unfortunately could not find anything. There wasn't even a card that contained the word marriage or wedding. It was beginning to frustrate him.

"Hey, Robin, I found a scroll you might want to look at!"

Robin flinched when he heard his sister's voice. He turned around to see her holding up a scroll. "Oh, you found something already," Robin said with a chuckle as he closed one of the drawers. Aether giggled as she rushed over to sit down near the wooden table. Robin ran over and took a seat next to her.

"You know, you found that really quickly. I was still looking at those cards to see what I could find here," the prince commented.

Aether responded, "I've spent a lot of my time down here. I don't need those cards to know where each scroll is."

"Wow, that's kind of sad, but good for you," he said.

Aether rolled her eyes as she unrolled the scroll, her eyes scanning through it. "I remember reading through this not that long ago, so I already know what's in this scroll pretty much."

"Oh, thank the stars, that means we won't have to read it entirely! That scroll looks too long," Robin exclaimed.

Aether sighed, rolling her eyes once again, as she placed the scroll down, keeping it spread out with the force of her talons. She asked, "So, you want to know more about the history of arranged marriages?" Robin nodded.

Aether looked down at the scroll as she spoke, "Well, for a starter, as you already know, an arranged marriage is the practice of getting two dragons bewedded. They're usually chosen randomly or by status. In your case, it's both most likely. Arranged marriages are most commonly held between two tribes instead of just one. This is because when an arranged marriage is held between two tribes, it's usually done to strength their bond as allies. It can also help expand land for the two tribes in some cases!"

"Does that mean they're common?"

"They used to be. While they have always been a thing, they became common a couple years after the War of SandWing Succession, and then they started to die out in 5134 AS. This is the first one happening in a couple of decades. But they're still known about through stories you keep on missing out on because you think you're too old for them. A lot of stories surprisingly contain arranged marriages. There's also the historical stories about arranged marriages that happened in the past."

Robin's expression changed from being joyful to disappointed. "Oh, so everyone else is already familiar with the concept? Arranged marriages have already happened?"

The SkyWing princess continued, "Yeah, and a quite a few actually. There was one that happened between the RainWings and the SeaWings. This happened around the time the NightWings got their own queen, and the RainWings wanted to prove their strength and build up their military. For a short time, their kingdoms were connected in order to fight against the MudWings were attacking the SeaWings. Their bond has died off though once the two married dragons passed away. It didn't last long because they didn't have any offsprings. One that did last long was a marriage between a NightWing and IceWing to strength their tribes as allies and do put away their past hatred for each other. While the dragons who married are not alive, including their offsprings, it did work! NightWings and IceWings are no longer enemies."

"And they're okay with marrying some dragon from a different tribe they don't know?" he questioned.

"I mean, yeah, it's called an arranged marriage for a reason. In an arranged marriage, a dragon does not pick the other dragon. They're picked for them. If a dragon is told they'll be in an arranged marriage, they already know what that means. They'll be marrying some other dragon, whether they know them or not," his sister told him.

"Has...any of them complained about being in an arranged marriage? Does the scroll say anything about that? Has any of them not agreed to being married to some dragon they don't know? Has _any_ dragon disagreed with the idea of an arranged marriage?" Robin asked, desperate to find any kind of validation at this point.

Aether shook her head, the smirk on her face slowly fading. "None of that has been recorded. For the most part, being apart of an arranged marriage is usually considered an honor to many tribes. The only tribe that hasn't been involved in one is the MudWings, but that's to be expected from them. The concept of marriage really isn't common among them. But other than that, every other tribe has been involved in one, and there hasn't been any complainants about it from what we know. Arranged marriages are typically seen as being a good thing because they're usually a sign of union, strength, and power to many tribes, especially to SeaWings and SandWings," the golden SkyWing informed.

Robin didn't respond. He simply only groaned as he leaned back in the wooden chair he sat in, his wings flaring open in frustration. The red-scaled dragon thought he was going to find some comfort in his views, but here he was, being told that arranged marriages are meant to be good and be seen as something positive. Robin felt like he was the only one who didn't want this wedding to ever happen, and _he_ was the one marrying some IceWing princess.


End file.
